2016 is the year that I fell in love with podcasts. I cannot even express how much value these podcasts have added to my life. If I am doing a mindless task around the house or in the car by myself I am most likely listening to one of my favorite podcasters! You know what it is awesome, when you find a new to you podcast and there is like 100 episodes, binge binge binge! I really don’t know what I would do without these, they truly bring me so much joy. It’s my hope that these handful of podcasters keep doing what they do for many years to come!

The Simple Show is a podcast where we explore unconventional ways of living and making the most out of things like work, travel, and family. I talk shop with other people about what that looks like for them—food, travel, writing, books, parenting, work, fashion, and everything in between.

The Live Immediately Podcast is where I have conversations with people who inspire me, who have taught me something, who have helped me grow and who are living life on their own terms. We dive into those big moments that have pushed them through the fears and self-limiting beliefs that hold so many of us back.

So, if you are at all interested in living more mindfully or slowing down and doing the things that you truly love then I highly recommend any and all of these. Do yourself a favor and listen, it could change your life and the way you see the world.

During the day you will most often see me with my ear buds in, listening to podcasts, and being thoroughly entertained by “my people” as I refer to them as. They really are my people. I finally found them! I’ve never really felt like I belonged into a particular group until I stumbled upon minimalism. Then it all became clear, I was like Yes, that is me. That is how I feel. No one else in my life has ever expressed feelings like this. I’ve always wanted to focus on the things that were the most valuable to me, and to my family. I’ve always wondered why we let everything else get in the way, essentially saying that it is more important. It’s crazy. Each of us is only here for finite period of time, I don’t want to waste a day of it. I feel like I’ve wasted so many days and it’s not ok, and I won’t do it anymore.

What Minimalism Means To Me

Minimalism is really just a tool to help you see what is truly most important to you. Yes, you usually start with clearing out all of your physical possessions that are weighing you down, but that is really just the first step. It is a great step but there is so much more to minimalism than that. For me it is about intentional living. It’s about figuring out what is important to me and living according to that. Meaning that I am not just going to agree with something if it isn’t something I really feel like I need to be doing. It means I will say NO a lot more and I won’t feel bad about it. It means that I will spend my days more mindfully, truly appreciating the moments, even the mundane moments that we might normally try to rush through. I don’t want to wish my days away. I want them to be well spent. I want to make sure I make an effort to let the people in my life that I love and appreciate know that they are important to me. I don’t want to keep it to myself. I want to show them that I care.

The only way I can do all of these things is if all the other junk is out of the way so that my time and focus will not be wasted on it. It is ever changing, and that’s okay. Something that is important to me now may not be as important a year from now. It’s good to know that I can let those things go. You don’t need to drag those things along with you and let them weigh you down. Learning to release is healthy and takes practice. I have noticed it gets easier and easier.

Minimalism has helped me to be happy with me, it has helped me to be more comfortable with myself. It has helped bring focus to my life by clearing away a lot of mental clutter. It has helped bring clarity to my life, in a way that I have not seen before. Not to say that everything is magically clear but it has helped me to see what I want for my life more clearly. Minimalism may start with the “stuff” but it ends with a freedom that takes place deep within your soul. For me this equals happiness!

This has been a tough lesson for me and one I am still learning. As humans it’s natural for us to form attachments to people, animals, objects, and ideas. With attachment comes suffering. Being able to let go of expectations or things that have happened in the past can bring forth a freedom that not many people truly experience.

I don’t believe that we will ever be able to eliminate all suffering but I do believe that we can limit the places we let it enter into our lives by how we respond to things that are happening around us and to us. When we resist something that is clearly going to happen or has already happened then we invite suffering. When we fight so hard against what is happening it creates pain. We can never feel peace this way, there will always be a war going on inside of us. That is a miserable way to live.